


Virmire

by sqbr



Series: Sal Shepard [2]
Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Canonical Character Death, F/M, Fanfiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-24
Updated: 2012-04-24
Packaged: 2017-11-04 06:10:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/390650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sqbr/pseuds/sqbr
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Soldiers kill and soldiers die. That's just the way things go.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Virmire

Kaidan looked out through the solid thickness of the Normandy's windows onto the prettiest planet he'd seen since Eden Prime. Fractal cliff faces covered in lush greenery crumbled into deep blue oceans edged with clean white sand.

"You know if it wasn't for the geth and those defence towers this might be a nice place to take shore leave," he said.

Garrus laughed. He was standing by the mako, giving his guns one last check before Shepard and Liara arrived. Kaidan was waiting for them too, but only to wish them luck. Once again he was stuck on the Normandy while Shepard and Vakarian saved the galaxy. Given how utterly Kaidan and Shepard had failed to keep their relationship secret (if relationship was the right word for the mix of flirtation and half unspoken promises they'd fallen into) being assigned to separate missions was the right choice. The smart choice. But looking at Garrus all suited up Kaidan couldn't help but feel a little jealous. And short. 

"If you like this kind of thing you should visit the beaches in Cipritine," said Garrus. "Clean sand, no geth and the best rock fishing in the galaxy. Just remember to bring a hat."

"That's on Palaven, right?" said Kaidan. "I'm not sure a hat would cut it. Not all of us have metal skin."

"I don't have metal _skin_ ," began Garrus, before being interrupted by the intercom.

"I've located the Salarians," said Joker. "Finding a drop point now."

"Oh well," grunted Wrex from a dark corner. Kaidan had almost forgotten he was there. "I guess it was too much to hope the geth had killed them all."

* * *

The sun glinted off Wrex's armour, the rough red paint looking bright and cheerful in the glare reflecting off the sand and sea. Ashley squinted and made sure she had his head squarely in her sights. A few millimetres off and she could end up shooting Shepard by mistake, and she respected Wrex enough to want to give him a clean death. 

The krogan was gesturing angrily now. Ashley couldn't make out what he and Shepard were saying but he certainly didn't seem too happy about it. Behind Ashley the Salarians were muttering amongst themselves about the pointlessness of trying to reason with krogan, and discussing their chances in the battle to come. Ashley pushed away her awareness of the high pitched chatter, focussing only on Wrex and Shepard, on keeping her aim square and true.

Ashley usually had a lot of respect for Shepard's brand of "diplomacy". She wished _she_ could get people to do what she wanted by shouting a lot and telling them to get over themselves. Maybe it was one of those tricks you picked up after a few years in command. Still, Wrex was hardly an easy guy to intimidate, and he was unlikely to give up on these cloned krogan and the future they represented without a fight. Ashley worried that Shepard's posturing would just make him more angry.

Suddenly Wrex drew his weapon. Shepard drew hers in response, and Ashley prepared to shoot. Damn. She'd been hoping there was some way out of this without killing one of their own team. And then, impossibly, Wrex put his weapon down. He still looked pissed but not much more than normal. Ashley didn't drop her guard, but the knot in her chest started to unravel. Shepard turned and gave a short nod of reassurance. Wrex looked across at Ashley and smiled wryly down the barrel of her gun, one soldier to another. Ashley nodded at them both and slowly lowered her weapon. Now they could finally get down to business.

* * *

Garrus had never really taken to Ashley. It was hard to like anyone who so obviously saw you and your species as inherently suspect, even if she'd never come right out and said it. Still, the few times they'd worked together she'd treated him with respect, she'd even saved his life once or twice, and she was a good, loyal soldier. He looked at her suiting up with the Salarians, talking to her new team and preparing for what was almost certainly a suicide mission, and sent an internal prayer to the spirits that they'd somehow be alright.

He and Liara were standing by the steps up the hillside, waiting for Shepard to finish finalising the plan with the Salarian, Major Kirrahe. It was cold in the shadow of the cliff face. Saren's base was huge, tall stone walls and massive guns that had looked intimidating even from space. This was going to be tough for all of them, perhaps he should send a prayer for himself as well.

Shepard walked up and announced, without preamble "I'm taking Wrex and Kaidan with me into the facility." Huh. He and Liara had both assumed Shepard would stick with the same team for the rest of the mission. But she had to have her reasons.

"Are you sure that is wise?" asked Liara. "What if Wrex decides to switch loyalties again, perhaps if an opportunity arises to access a cure to the genophage?"

"I'd rather have Wrex where I can see him," said Shepard. "And he knows where his loyalties lie now. Anyway, if we find a cure for the genophage while we're in there I'll let him keep it, no skin off my nose."

Liara looked deeply perturbed by the idea. "And what about Lieutenant Alenko?" she said. "Won't you need him on the Normandy to set the bomb?" It seemed that Liara had gotten used to being the only biotic Shepard worked with and felt a little jealous. This is what happened when civilians got involved in war, they didn't know how to take orders without overthinking things.

Not that Garrus wasn't prone to a little overthinking himself from time to time.

"Garrus, Tali and some of the Salarian techs will be on the Normandy," said Shepard. "I'm assuming they can figure it out between them."

"Absolutely, Shepard," said Garrus. But it _was_ a strange choice. She'd been avoiding working with Alenko for months, ever since it had become obvious to everyone that there was something going on between them. Why suddenly add him to her team now? 

_You don't think we're going to make it_ , he thought. She wasn't the only one. There was a dark mood hanging over the camp, Major Kirrahe's speech had only done so much to quiet the salarian troops gloomy mutterings, and every time his eyes passed by Tali she was staring out at the same patch of empty ocean, the slightest hint of a shake visible in her delicate hands. Shepard had been doing a pretty good job of acting like she was sure they were going to kick Saren's ass, but apparently she was just a really good actor.

"Makes sense," he said. "You need another biotic to fill out the balance of the team." 

"Exactly," said Shepard. "And no offence, Liara, but you're not much good against the geth."

"I am not offended," said Liara. "I am an archaeologist, after all, not a trained soldier. But Shepard..." Liara looked like she wanted to argue some more, but Shepard was clearly in no mood for arguing. Liara's tone changed, becoming softer. "Shepard...I just want to say...I'm glad to have met you. My life might have been safer before, but to have actually seen the Protheans through your eyes, to play a part in events of such galactic significance..."

"We're here to kill Saren, not research a damn paper," said Shepard. "Save your flowery speeches for when we're done saving the galaxy. I'll see you two on the other side."

Garrus nodded.

"Of course," said Liara.

Shepard turned without further conversation and headed back towards Major Kirrahe, and Kaidan. 

Liara sighed.

"Don't mind Shepard," said Garrus. "I know she appreciates the work you do on the Normandy. She's just not one for social niceties."

"I know that," said Liara. "I know exactly what Shepard thinks of me, I have been inside her mind. And that doesn't change the fact that I'm not the one she wants to have by her side at the end."

"Ah," said Garrus. Liara hadn't been very subtle about her interest in Shepard. He found it baffling, it's not like the two of them had very much in common, and Shepard didn't even seem to like Liara very much. Though he supposed that Liara would know more about that than him. And he had to admit, if he was to choose the people he got to spend his final moments with, Shepard would be pretty high up the list, and it did hurt a little that she didn't appear to feel the same way. But this was a battle, not a popularity contest. "You can't take this sort of thing too personally," he said, as much to himself as to Liara. "Shepard's just being practical. Like she said, she'll see us on the other side."

"Mmm," said Liara, softly, turning away. If she said anything after that it was too soft for Garrus to hear, lost in the sound of the wind and the waves crashing against the rocks and the Normandy's feet.

* * *

The Salarian's increasingly desperate cries for help followed them all the way back to the labs.

"Are you sure you don't want to let him go?" asked Kaidan. "Even if he is indoctrinated, he's hardly much of a threat, and if we abandon him here he'll die when the bomb goes off."

"Oh no, another dead Salarian, how tragic," said Wrex.

"I decided it wasn't worth the risk, and that's final," said Shepard. She sounded annoyed at him. He felt like she'd been annoyed at him all day, and he had no idea why. "Look Kaidan, we're soldiers. We kill people. That's what we do. And soldier or not, eventually everybody dies. It generally isn't pretty, and it generally isn't fair, but if you let yourself get all messed up about it you'll be no good the the Alliance, and you'll be no good to me."

Has Shepard always been this cold? She hadn't even paused to think before cutting down a harmless scientist offering to help them with insider knowledge. Maybe it'd just been so long since they'd worked together that he'd forgotten what she was like. Either way, and whatever they meant to each other during down time, right now she was his commanding officer. Time to get his head in the game.

"Sorry Commander," he said. "It won't happen again."

She nodded without looking at him. "Glad to hear it." 

And then it was on to the next lab, and more death.

* * *

Ashley was nearly out of grenades. The geth just didn't _stop_ , how many of the damn things were there? The ground in front of the little niche her team had been backed into was littered with smashed up bits of robot mixed with green Salarian blood, but the damn synthetics just kept coming.

And now she knew for sure that no reinforcements were coming. Shepard had made the right choice: Alenko was the better soldier, and her team had finished it's job of creating a distraction. What mattered now was setting the bomb and bringing down that turian bastard Saren. Still, it was hard to come to terms with knowing for sure that she was going to die.

A part of her was glad, now she could finally show what the Williams family could really do under pressure. Another little voice inside of her was crying _unfair_ and _I don't want to die_ , shouting that she deserved more support, more respect, more _time_. But life wasn't fair, and war even less so. At least she'd gotten the chance to go down fighting. 

And she couldn't complain about the company. She'd have never expected to bond with a bunch of snooty Salarian special forces agents, but they were good soldiers, and had accepted her as captain far more quickly than she would have ever accepted a salarian commander.

Ashley ducked her head over the half blasted wall she was taking cover behind and fired as many shots towards the enemy as her rifle would let her before it started to squeal about being overheated and she had to duck back down again. One of those big ass primes was heading towards them and she'd barely managed to dent it. Ashley had been planning on making a break towards the next room with the hope of finding some medical supplies, but the way things were going there was no way any of them were going anywhere.

"Ikon!" she shouted through the din. "Where's that covering fire I ordered?" 

"Ikon's dead," said a high, weary voice.

Ashley looked over in the direction of the voice before taking a few more potshots and looking closer.

"Jolon, right?" she said. She was pretty sure Jolon was the one with the little orange specks on his nose. It had taken a bit of effort to remember all the unfamiliar alien names, but they were her squad. Had been her squad. The Salarian was looking pretty beat up, his arm hanging at what she was pretty sure was the wrong angle, and even if only some of the green blotches across his chest were his own blood it was still amazing that he was alive. Of course, there was no doubt about where the red running down Ashley's side was coming from, if it wasn't for adrenaline and stims she'd probably be unconscious. 

"Yes," he gasped. "I think...we're the only ones left." Ashley looked past him to see if she could find Ikon and the others but all she could see was a tangle of armour and blood lying sickeningly still.

"Looks like it," she said. "But we can still take the bastards down. Damn geth won't know what hit them." 

Ikon gave a weak cough that might have been a laugh. "It has been an honour to serve with you, Chief Williams," he said. "Our sacrifice will be remembered."

"Maybe," she said. "Maybe not. But _we_ know how good we are. Let's just concentrate on sending these geth straight to hell and leave history to the vids." 

He took a weak, gurgling breath. "Sounds...good. Not sure...can hold gun though. Sorry." 

"Here," said Ashley. "Have my last grenade. And it's been an honour to serve with you too, Officer Jolon."

Jolon took the grenade with a smile and then closed his eyes. Ashley let out a sad breath and then cocked her gun.

No regrets.


End file.
